Russian Train Disaster 26 Dead

UGLOVKA, Russia – A powerful homemade bomb sent a high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg train careening off its tracks killing at least 26 people in what seems to be an act of terrorism.

As many as 100 people were left injured by the disaster, and 18 remained missing Saturday night.

The attack on the Nevsky Express, a luxury train popular with government officials, tourists and business executives, was Russia's deadliest terrorist strike outside the volatile North Caucasus region since 2004. Among the dead were citizens of Belgium, Italy and Azerbaijan.

The force of the derailment scattered battered carriages over a remote stretch of track, trapping some of the injured for hours. By first light Saturday, luggage and pieces of metal lay in the muddy embankment in the drizzle, as survivors huddled under blankets by fires.

The injured were transported to hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg by bus, train and even helicopters, but some said the evacuation was agonizingly slow.

Yekaterina Ivanova, a wounded passenger, told the NTV television network that workers took at least four hours to free her from the wreck. "In the hospital, the doctors are better, the medical teams are working in harmony," she said. "The young people from the Ministry of Emergency Situations carried us out on stretchers, but other people in uniform were just standing there and staring, and no one was even helping to carry out the wounded."

Russia has been hit by a number of major terrorist attacks since the 1991 Soviet collapse, including the seizures of the Dubrovka theater in October 2002 and the taking of more than 1,000 hostages in Beslan's School Number One in September 2004 in which more than 330 people died when pro-Chechens seized a school in southern Russia.

Over the past year, the Caucasus has seen a surge in violence, including an increase in suicide bombings, assassinations and attacks by militants against police and government officials.

At the same time, rights activists say, government security services in the region have stepped up the use of kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and home-burnings against suspected militants and their relatives. The Moscow-based rights group Memorial issued a report this month accusing authorities of implementing "a policy of state terror."

President Medvedev issued a call for calm. "We need there to be no chaos, because the situation is tense as it is," he said. After previous terrorist attacks officials have sometimes jumped to conclusions about who is guilty; and terrorist attacks have sometimes been followed by mob assaults against innocent people from the Caucasus.

The same train service was attacked in 2007 when a similar bomb injured around 30 people. The authorities arrested two men from a region neighbouring Chechnya and blamed the attack on Islamist rebels. The man the authorities said masterminded that earlier attack – a former Russian soldier turned Islamist extremist – was never caught and is still on the run.

Survivor Boris Gruzd said the train driver braked severely. The passengers then spent 30 minutes unaware that the last three wagons of the 14-carriage train had flown off the rails. "The first wagon was 1.5-2kms away from the rest of the train. The second had completely flipped over. The third had come off the rails, but was near the main part of the train and was still standing vertically. As far as I know nobody from this wagon was seriously hurt." Gruzd said that the passengers immediately began collecting warm clothes and mattresses to help the injured. But he said it was extremely difficult to reach people trapped in the mangled carriages – with rescuers peering into the gloom and using flashlights.

Investigators said they had discovered a 3ft crater beneath the rails where the bomb had gone off. Reuters, however, said that its reporters at the scene had been unable to find it. Earlier, Russian news agencies had quoted transport officials as saying the cause may have been an electrical fault. Russia has a poor record of serious accidents caused by Soviet-era infrastructure.

yahoo, telegraph, guardian, times,

2008 was the tenth warmest year on a record and CRU emails

In report, on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the global mean temperature for 2008 is 14.3 °C, making it the tenth warmest year on a record that dates back to 1850.

The ten warmest years on record have occurred since 1997. Global temperatures for 2000-2008 now stand almost 0.2 °C warmer than the average for the decade 1990–1999.

Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office says our actions are making the difference: "Human influence, particularly emission of greenhouse gases, has greatly increased the chance of having such warm years. Comparing observations with the expected response to man-made and natural drivers of climate change it is shown that global temperature is now over 0.7 °C warmer than if humans were not altering the climate."

Calculating the changing risk attributable to human influence is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of Oxford. Commenting on the dramatically increased odds of such warm years because of human induced climate change, Dr Myles Allen from Oxford University said: "Globally this year would have been considered warm, even as recently as the 1970s or 1980s, but a scorcher for our Victorian ancestors."

Beneath the underlying warming, temperature continues to fluctuate from year to year as a result of natural variations. Stott added: "As a result of climate change, what would once have been an exceptionally unusual year has now become quite normal. Without human influence on climate change we would be more than 50 times less likely of seeing a year as warm as 2008."

Sceptics have been quick to use the emails extracted by a hacker from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia to claim that Climate Change is all one big conspiracy. The data from any number of other organisations however continue to show worrying climate change.

Some other cimate research organisations are the Met Office Hadley Centre, Climate Dynamics at Oxford University, (NCAS) National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) , Centre for Global Atmospheric Modelling (University of Reading), Natural Environment Research Council, AMDI Atmospheric Modelling and Data Interpretation Group , Rutherford Appleton Lab, British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC), Atmospheric Chemistry Modelling Support Unit at Cambridge UK (ACMSU) , Atmospheric Dynamics Group Cambridge and thats just a few of the British ones.

More on the CRU emails at Ruperts Read, Monbiot, Realclimate who say that "Since emails are normally intended to be private, people writing them are, shall we say, somewhat freer in expressing themselves than they would in a public statement. More interesting is what is not contained in the emails. There is no evidence of any worldwide conspiracy, no mention of George Soros nefariously funding climate research, no grand plan to ‘get rid of the MWP’, no admission that global warming is a hoax, no evidence of the falsifying of data, and no ‘marching orders’ from our socialist/communist/vegetarian overlords. The truly paranoid will put this down to the hackers also being in on the plot though."

"There is a peek into how scientists actually interact and the conflicts show that the community is a far cry from the monolith that is sometimes imagined. People working constructively to improve joint publications; scientists who are friendly and agree on many of the big picture issues, disagreeing at times about details and engaging in ‘robust’ discussions; Scientists expressing frustration at the misrepresentation of their work in politicized arenas and complaining when media reports get it wrong; Scientists resenting the time they have to take out of their research to deal with over-hyped nonsense. None of this should be shocking."

"It is tempting to point fingers and declare that people should not have been so open with their thoughts, but who amongst us would really be happy to have all of their email made public?"

Join ‘The Wave’ - the UK’s biggest ever demonstration in support of action on climate change. London, 5 Dec 2009

Join ‘The Wave’ - the UK’s biggest ever demonstration in support of action on climate change. London, 5 Dec 2009 'Wave' event!
On Saturday December 5th thousands of people will form a massive demonstration on climate change.
There will be a large gathering of people from all around the country taking part in The Wave march together:
We will meet at the North Audley Street entrance to Grovsvenor Square starting from 11:15am and intend to move into the square as a group together at around 12noon. The plan is to encircle parliament by 3pm. Dress code: blue.

There will be members of over 100 organisations coming along. The heat is on to quit dirty coal and deliver a fair international climate deal that keeps global warming under two degrees C.


12 noon Speakers Corner, Hyde park.

Speakers include Michael Meacher MP, Simon Hughes MP, John McDonnell MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Maria Sauveron (Bolivian ambassador), John Stewart (HACAN – anti Heathrow 3rd runway), Chris Baugh ( Public and Commercial Services Union) and Sasha Pratt (UK Youth Climate Coalition).

Musical interludes will be provided by Seize the Day.

Some of us from Reading will gather infront of Reading Station to travel together on the train using the 4for2 ticket deal.
Any one that would like to join the 'train gang' should arrive in front of the station at 10:15. Departure to London is planned for 10:30.
Otherwise you could book a bus ticket to travel with CAFOD or use the mega bus website:
TEL 01189696219 01252329385 Email rita.belletty@talktalk.net or portsmouth@cafod.org.uk (£10 from Reading station)
www.megabus.com/uk promo code:RSPB01 (£4.50 return from Calcot)
(as you might expect - buses leave earlier in the morning!)

We should have a banner or two available to wave around but if you would like to make something more then please bring that along too!





It feels like a buzz is building about the wave, and we're hearing new stories all the time about things people are doing to draw attention to the Wave - e.g. a bike stunt in Letchworth the weekend before The Wave, and health professionals organising a feeder event on the morning of the 5th, where they plan to wear blue surgical scrubs or white coats, and bring a hospital bed on The Wave! You can also expect to see on The Wave (amongst other things): a Neptune prop, a giant wave on wheels, a Welsh blue dragon, a copse of trees, lots of surfers and of course a shoal of mermaids!

So with less than 2 weeks left, there is a last push to get those hugely impressive numbers of people out on December 5th. If you can all spend an hour or two spreading the word, it will make a massive difference. You could:

- Put up posters and flyers in your local high streets and public places
- Hand out flyers in key areas
- Tell people about The Wave and/ or distribute flyers at local meetings

stop climate chaos ha've just had flyers delivered, and have lots of posters, so contact fran 'at' stopclimatechaos.org, 020 7324 4622

By train – meet at the front entrance to Reading station 10.15 a.m.to catch the 10.33 a.m.train to Paddington from where we will go to Speakers Corner, Hyde Parkfor the middayrally. From there we will join THE WAVE march which leaves Grosvenor Squareat 1 p.m.Please bring banners and other things to brighten up the event! See www.gren.org.uk

CAFOD have a few places on their coach which is leaving Reading Station at 8am and Woodley at 8:45am. They will then go to an Ecumenical Service at Westminster Methodist Central Hall at 11ambefore attending THE WAVE. To book a seat contact Rita Bellety on 0118 9696219 or rita.belletty@talktalk.net.
For more details, including the route for THE WAVE see www.stopclimatechaos.org

Dress code: Blue! Please bring blue gloves if you have them, or paint your hands blue for the 3pmclimax!
Gabriel Berry GREN www.gren.org.uk 07795 561052

the-wave.org.uk
www.stopclimatechaos.org
FoE Wave'
twitter.com wave
campaign climate change

Tory Blues, Just Not Green Enough

Recently some senious Tories have got in a real pickle on Green issues. A few weeks ago there was Ian Dale,
last night on Question Time Dadid Davies, and today Blogging MP John Redwood.

Barkshire senior Tory MP John Redwood doesn't agree with science, or follow the leadership of Cameron. The Tories used to say vote blue go green, but that has gone now, its a more Obamaesque/meaningless statement about change.



How sad to read a respected senior MP and his followers who don't understand science. They talk about climate change as if it was a vast conspiracy theory, they want a public enquiry into the UAE email leak as though they have been lied to for decades!

There is no vast scientific scandal at the UAE, and most importantly absolutely no reason to doubt any of the fundamentals of the science of man-made climate change. There were a few unpleasant, silly or unwise emails. Scientists aren't angels; like the rest of us, they sometimes get angry with their detractors. Perhaps an enquiry should be on how someone can hack into personal emails and then publish them.

Some Tories, like John Redwood MP here and David Davis MP on Question Time last night mistrust science, and look elsewhere for answers. Goat entrails anyone? Ah I forget, for them capitalism is the answer for everything.

Wokinghams MP says

The only effective carbon reduction strategy the UK has followed in the last twenty years was electricity privatisation. That led to an end to new coal power stations and their replacement by much more fuel efficient combined cycle gas power stations. I was pleased to be one of the main architects of that policy, as it cut prices as well as cutting carbon, and was designed to give customers and business a better deal.

Changing to Gas reduced emissions, but its still a fossil fuel. Renewables are the answer, but they need investment. We have a great resource here, a very windy country. But we are one of the worst for wind turbines in Europe.

We should for example insulate all houses to a high standard, it will be cheaper to heat, waste less, and provide green jobs. So a win win situation.

The discussion should be about how to reduce the most emissions, not if there is some conspiracy!

The Zero Carbon caravan: sail and bike to Copenhagen

Guest Post by Chris Keene

The world stands at a crossroads. One way continues with business as usual and ends up with abrupt climate change causing the premature deaths of hundreds of millions, if not billions of people, and the extinction of many of the world’s plant and animal species.

The other way leads to a future in which we do things in a radically different alternative way, and in so doing manage not only to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change, but also to make ourselves happier.

Contrary to much of the propaganda put out by the mainstream media, this alternative does not involve "sitting in a cave with a candle," but is instead one where technology becomes our servant not our master, where we have ample time for leisure and relationships with family and friends, which actually makes us happier, instead of living in the world we have now, being made perpetually unsatisfied by advertising selling us the latest consumer junk, which is programmed to break down as soon as the guarantee runs out so that it has to be replaced. And where we have to work harder than ever simply to keep a roof over our heads (unless we happen to be one of the wealthy minority that rules the world these days).

But many people simply do not believe that such a world is possible, so they need a good example giving a practical demonstration of what is possible. This is where the Zero Carbon Caravan comes in (here the word ‘caravan’ is used in the sense of a group of people traveling together, rather than a metal box towed behind a car.)


We will demonstrate how it is possible to travel, work and play all without generating any carbon emissions at all. We will provide a positive, inspiring vision of the future, where, instead of merely consuming, we lead fulfilling lives. A future where a conversation about the summer vacation goes something like “I spent a month as a volunteer crewing on a yacht bringing fair trade bananas over to Europe from the Caribbean” rather than “I flew off for a couple of weeks in Bali” (for in our alternative future people will have much longer holidays, fulfilling the promise we were made in the 1960s of a world where machines would do much of the work, and humans would be free to indulge their leisure pursuits).


The idea is to get to the Copenhagen climate talks this year without using any fossil fuels (that is going to be mainly cycling and sailing, but could include other methods such as sea kayaking too, as long as no fossil fuels are involved) to demand "a Zero Carbon World, as fast as we can" (because there is probably already too much carbon in the atmosphere -- the Arctic sea ice is melting, which could set off a chain of positive feedback effects leading to the Amazon burning and the global temperature rocketing 10C or more in a few decades, threatening the lives of billions). We hope to have people from all over the world, traveling in yachts from other continents as well as Europe.


We will begin in Machynlleth in mid-Wales, home to both the Centre for Alternative Technology, authors of the Zero Carbon Britain report and the Public Interest Research Centre, which produced the Climate Safety report in November 2008 , and the theme of the journey will be "from Zero Carbon Britain to a Zero Carbon World." We will showcase positive solutions, such as the Green New Deal and visit inspiring places such as Transition Towns
On the way we will be holding media events and Zero Carbon Conferences (public meetings where we explain the need for zero carbon emissions in terms of the climate science, then discuss with the public the means of achieving it, ending up by encouraging them to get involved in the campaign for zero carbon by lobbying their politicians, and starting zero carbon initiatives in their own communities).

We will hold a "Zero Carbon World Conference for a Zero Carbon World" at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (this will be zero carbon because participants will get there without using fossil fuels -- most of them from the University, which has two world class institutions -- the Climate Research Unit and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research) and it will be a world conference because we will have some of the world’s top climate scientists participating via video link, demonstrating the use of technology to save the world instead of destroy it, showing how we can work in a zero carbon way).

We can all look forward to Zero Carbon Concerts, which rely on a minimum of bicycle-generated electricity to power the PA for the band, and lots of audience participation, so we're using people power not fossil fuel power, showing how we can play without emitting carbon. The conferences and concerts will be broadcast over internet radio, and we will be in touch with national, regional and local media so that the Caravan attains the maximum possible visibility, thus maximising the pressure on the negotiators in Copenhagen.

The Caravan will be a relay, so people don't have to come all the way to Copenhagen, they can just join for a few days. The 'baton' for the relay will be a scroll of paper detailing the science behind the necessity for zero carbon emissions, and the solutions in terms of lifestyle change and technology such as renewable energy and home insulation. This will be backed up by a datastick, to which we will add material as we travel, all of the material being placed on our website.

When we arrive in Copenhagen, we will hold a "Zero Carbon World Concert for a Zero Carbon World," which will involve a Zero Carbon Concert being broadcast over internet radio (using renewable electricity) so that people can join in all over the world. This will end with the song "Ship in Distress" by Seize the Day, which concludes "Or can we change our ways forever, before those reckoning times arrive? If we act now, and we act together, our children's children may yet survive."

We are converging with other groups of activists from all over the world who are coming to Copenhagen, if not in a zero carbon manner, then at least using low carbon travel, getting buses and trains instead of planes. This international convergence is being led by Anna Keenan from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition who aims to bring over a large contingent traveling overland from Australia.

_ _

The Zero Carbon Caravan is organised entirely by volunteers, so if you can help in any way -- fundraising, media work, organising accommodation and meetings etc, but especially if you can offer us lifts on yachts, or you want to cycle with us -- please get in touch with the coordinator, Chris Keene. Email: chris.keene "at" zerocarboncaravan "dot" net Telephone: +44(0)1603 614535. Address: 33 Dell Crescent, Norwich NR5 8QB, UK.
The website for Zero Carbon Caravan is http://zerocarboncaravan.net/wordpress/

How Are People Getting To Copenhagen?

In an act many are calling hypocrisy, more than half of the Government’s delegation to the Copenhagen climate talks will be travelling by air! 19 delegates of the 38-member team have so far confirmed they plan to fly to the talks, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) budgeting up to £17,500 for the total cost of travel for all UK delegates – this amounts to around £420 per delegate. Perhaps they are going to rename it the Department for Causing Climate Change?

It is extraordinary that at least half of the UK delegation from DECC are travelling to Copenhagen by air, particularly when the dates of this conference have been known for months and many others have managed to arrange to get there by train.

The International Union of Railways, UIC, says train travel releases between three and 10 times less carbon dioxide than driving or flying and it is urging government officials and environmentalists to take the train to the United Nations climate change conference in Denmark on Dec. 7-18.

The UIC is also organizing a special "Climate Express" train on Dec. 5 to take some 380 people to Copenhagen from Brussels, where many activist groups, lobbyists, journalists and European Union officials are based. It says that trip will take only 12 hours — but will release less than a third of the carbon dioxide per passenger as flying.

It is completely unacceptable for ministers and public servants to travel in a way that produces the most damaging emissions when alternatives are clearly available.

This is just another example of the Labour Government saying one thing and doing another.

Some other travel possibilities:
*Beg a ride from an oil tanker, like these stranded climate activists.
*Capture the eco-promises of politicians and ride a hot-air balloon.
*When you’ve finally arrived, rent a bike. Or stay at a hotel that includes a bicycle with your room.
* seat 61 advises on rail travel.

Actually it's easy to travel from the UK to Copenhagen without flying, either by cruise ferry across the North Sea or overland all the way by Eurostar & sleeper train. DFDS Seaways luxurious cruise ferry 'Dana Sirena' sails from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark several times a week with InterCity train connections to Copenhagen. Or take Eurostar to Brussels and a high-speed train to Cologne, then the overnight City Night Line sleeper train 'Borealis' to Odense & Copenhagen. The choice is yours. A great alternative to an unnecessary flight, where the journey is part of the holiday.

Travel from London to Harwich by train, leaving London Liverpool Street at 14:18 and arriving Harwich 15:43. Harwich International station is right next to the ferry terminal. The train runs hourly, and the later 15:18 train from London will also connect, but the 14:18 departure gives plenty of time to catch the ferry. Double-check times at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Then sail from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark aboard DFDS Seaways 'Dana Sirena'. The Dana Sirena sails from Harwich every Wednesday, Friday & Sunday at 17:45 (increased to every second day in June, July & August ), arriving in Esbjerg at 13:00 next day (day 2). www.dfds.co.uk will confirm sailing dates. The ship has cabins, restaurants, a bar, coffee shop and lounges. On arrival at Esbjerg, take a taxi or bus or simply walk to the railway station. Bus number 5 runs from the ferry terminal to the station every 20 minutes, bus fare 15 Kr adult 8 Kr child.

You can easily walk from the ferry terminal to the pedestrianised town centre in about 10-15 minutes, from where it's another 5-10 minutes walk to the station. Then travel from Esbjerg to Copenhagen by air-conditioned InterCity train, leaving Esbjerg town station at 15:41 and arriving Copenhagen at 18:49.

CLIMATE EMERGENCY RALLY, Saturday 5th December - For Copehagen

Every day we hear politicians talking about the forthcoming climate conference at Copehagen and saying we won't get the deal we need. They need to hear from us, the people, that we want a fair international deal and action from the UK government.

The Global Humanitarium Forum says that:
climate change is already killing 300,000 people a year.
Climate injustice means that the poorest most vulnerable people on earth suffer the worst effects of climate change. For example, The UN Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that, within ten years from now, harvests across Africa could be 50 per cent less because of droughts, and an additional 160 million Africans will lack access to water. Even in the US, Hurricane Katrina showed that the poorest people suffer the most from environmental disasters.

To me, injustice of this is staggering. That is why I think this year’s Climate Emergency Rally is more important than ever. Please read below, please forward this and invite everyone you can (you can bring partners, friends and children), and please come along.


Climate Emergency Rally
Start: 05 Dec 2009, 12:00 am Where: Speakers Corner, Hyde Park
CLIMATE EMERGENCY RALLY, Saturday 5th December
Take a radical climate message to the Climate Demonstration on 5th December
Saturday 5th December will see the biggest UK demonstration on climate so far with greater commitment than ever before from a wide range of NGOs, brought together by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.

The Main Event
The 'Wave' will leave Grosvenor Square at about 1.00 pm to surround parliament for the ‘wave’ event at about 3.00 pm. The Climate Emergency Rally (see further here) will precede “The Wave” and rally-goers will feed into it as it leaves Grosvenor Square.

The Climate Emergency Rally is being held to allow demonstrators to put concrete demands for emergency action on climate to the UK government. We want to make sure there is no chance that the Government will ‘spin’ the climate demo as simply in support of their position at the Copenhagen Talks – whilst we want to demand a fair and effective international agreement we also want to demand much more action on climate from the UK government, here at home.
We believe that in any case there is no chance of an effective agreement until the North wins the trust of the South and it will only do that if Northern countries like the UK match words with action and take radical emission-reducing measures at home.

The Climate Emergency Rally is scheduled for 12 noon at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park
They Demand:
Declaration of a Climate Emergency
10% cuts by end 2010
A million green jobs by end 2010
Ban domestic flights
55 mph speed limit – scrap the roads program
End Agrofuel use
Most of these demands (and more) are in Early Day Motion 2057 signed by 45 MPs as of 12th November . See more here. There is a growing movement for emergency climate action in the UK. Lets make sure it continues to build! Join us at the Climate Emergency Rally !
For the “Million Green Job” demand see the new pamphlet from the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group.
Cyclists will want to join the CLIMATE EMERGENCY BIKE RIDE assembling at 10.00 am at Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It will finish at the Climate Emergency Rally, around 12.00 noon. See here.
For more on The Climate Emergency Rally see here.

Help Amnesty Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Help free Suu Kyi and other high profile human rights defenders during Amnesty International's Global Write-a-thon, the world's largest letter writing event, December 5-13th.


The more letters we send, the better chance we have at setting Aung San Suu Kyi free. Please pledge to write a letter on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the days surrounding International Human Rights Day – December 10 – Amnesty's global network of activists will send a tidal wave of letters and postcards on behalf of individuals in danger of severe human rights abuse.

We want to make this the best Write-a-thon ever! Every year, this worldwide event gets bigger and bigger -- and we expect to top all records this time around.

We've seen prisoners freed and lives spared because your letters make things happen! Just last year, Ma Khin Khin Leh, a school teacher in Myanmar and Hana Abdi, a women's rights advocate in Iran, were both released from prison after Write-a-thon letters overwhelmed their respective government offices.

Together, we can bring justice and human rights back to people who need it. Join the Global Write-a-thon today and show the world that when you stand up for human rights, you never stand alone.


Writing letters for Amnesty - a guide
Amnesty on twitter

Reading Eco Veggie Fayre on Saturday December 19th

Reading Eco Veggie Fayre is on Saturday December 19th at the Town Hall from 11am – 6pm.

The show aims to celebrate the eco friendly, veggie friendly and fair trade communities in Reading and the Thames Valley region, and all are invited to come and join the festivities, some interesting debates and talks are lined up.

See the website www.reading.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk which will be updated regularly over the next few weeks – highlights of the show include two screenings of The Age of Stupid (a film that deals with climate change), a talk from the highly respected Tony Wardle from Viva!, examining the impact of Livestock farming on the environment, an whole veggie cookery demos session with free samples of delicious veggie xmas food, and a proposed debate – should Reading adopt a ‘Meat Free Day’ once a week? Plus of course some fantastic food and free tasters, lots of excellent shopping opportunities and some fun and games for the kids as well as the adults including live bands and a party atmosphere!


www.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk
www.offthehoof.co.uk
0117 9239053

Climate Change Deniers

Despite all the scientific evidence, according to a poll for The Times only 41% of people accept that global warming is taking place and is largely man-made. Thirty two per cent believe the link is not yet proved. Eight per cent say it is environmentalist propaganda and 15% say that the world is not warming.

This sort of statistic has given ammunition to climate change deniers, who argue that so many people can´t be wrong. Tory Beast Iain Dale says "the debate is not over, and the argument is not yet won. If that were the case, they would have convinced more than 41% of the British people that global warming is man made."

The media vary between reporting this as a balanced argument between two equal sides and occasionally publishing scare stories. The truth is far more dull than this, we know what is happening, why it is happening, and what we can do to about it. Unfortunately most politicians think only in the short term, and wont tell voters what is needed. They talk about reducing emissions by 2050 then build more runways and motorways, so many people will believe there is nothing to it. But a growing number are getting fed up with politicians like this (the big parties are much the same here) and turning to the Greens.

The Aldermaston Four

Four people who took part in the Aldermaston Big Blockade on 27 October 2008 were found not guilty on Thursday (12 November, 2009) of obstructing the highway by a district judge at Reading Magistrates' Court.

Peter Crabtree ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the defendants were in fact on a highway or obstructing a highway. The defendants successfully argued that their blockade took place on the access road to the Tadley Gate entrance to the Atomic Weapons Establishment Aldermaston, which they claimed lies on Ministry of Defence land, and that their action to impede the development and deployment of nuclear weapons did not significantly affect traffic flow on the adjacent main road, the A340. The judge did not, however, find that it had been shown that the Atomic Weapons Establishment was engaged in unlawful activity.

The successful defendants, who have each been awarded costs, are Jean Oliver from Lanarkshire in Scotland, David Polden and Emma Sangster, both from London, and Renate Zauner from Switzerland.

The trial took place on 21-22 October, 2009, but the defendants were required to return to court on Thursday to hear the judgment.

Mumsnet: Gordon Takes The Biscuit

The Gordon Brown interview on mumsnet became famous for GB eventually revealing his favourite biscuit (chocolate). Because of this some people thought it was a soft interview, Gordon does avoid the likes of Paxman. I read some fans of mumsnet were angry at it being thought soft, as though mums were somehow thought to be not intelligent. I had a look myself, and have copied the more interesting ones below, it isn't bad, but he was allowed to choose the questions and wasn't challenged on his answers.

Banking and cleaning up the financial system
bossykate: Gordon, would you consider a windfall tax on banks? Considering the generosity of the tax-payer in bailing out and propping up the entire banking system last year, shouldn't some of the profits be socialised if the losses were?
GordonBrown: To bossykate and others, I'm as angry about the banks as you are. We are determined that we receive more money back from the banks than we have had to invest in them, so the banks will be paying us, the public, money, not the other way round. On bonuses and pay, we are setting international rules so that you can't escape by moving your employment from one country to another; pay in future must be about long-term success, not failure. You'll find me making further statements about this in the next few weeks.


Climate change and the Copenhagen summit
ted: Congratulations on your plans to attend the Copenhagen summit on climate change. Are you disappointed that more leaders aren't going to attend? Why do you think that is? And how worried are you and Sarah about global warming?
spidermama: I would love to be able to vote Labour again but while you're funding new coal-fired power stations, failing to curb the dangerously excessive carbon emissions from the aviation and shipping industries and failing to invest properly in renewable energy I cannot be complicit in what appears to me to be a sleepwalk into catastrophic climate change which is already killing people and will wreak havoc in the lifetimes of our children and their children. How do you intend to make your mark on Planet Earth's date with destiny - the climate change agreement in Copenhagen in December?
GordonBrown: To Ted and others who are asking about the environment - yes, we do need an agreement in Copenhagen, and I'm going to go there and am asking other leaders to do so. We are putting forward new proposals in the next few weeks. On air travel we have air passenger duty, but we know we need an international agreement on aviation and shipping. All of us can play our part in cutting these emissions - why not sign up to Ed's pledge at www.edspledge.com - and I'm really pleased Mumsnet is backing 10:10.
Sarah and I are doing all we can at home, including solar panels on our house in Scotland. Believe it or not, we are advised that even though we are at the top of a hill, solar panels create more energy than a wind turbine. You might be surprised there's sun even in Fife!


Big Brother and biometric passports
edam: Will you promise to give up the government's love of large IT databases and obsessive monitoring of/interference in the private lives of citizens? I'm talking about ID cards (waste of money inherently insecure), the NHS electronic database (ditto), Ofsted interfering in private arrangements between families, councils using the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act to snoop in our dustbins or when we apply for school places. There has been a drift towards Big Brother in many aspects of public life. Please stop it.
GordonBrown: Edam, yes we are moving to a biometric passport, but that's what every country is trying to do. Your passport can be your source of identity. We are asking for very little more information than is now asked for your passport, and it is voluntary.

Trident and nuclear policy
StewieGriffinsMom: I would like to know how the government actually believes that replacing Trident does not invalidate any of our international agreements on nuclear non-proliferation?
GordonBrown: We all want a world free of nuclear weapons and I've always said we should have the minimum deterrent necessary. Since 1997, Britain has cut the number of nuclear warheads by 50% and I recently announced that I'm prepared to look at reducing our nuclear weapon submarines from four to three.
Our policy on Trident is in line with all our international agreements on non-proliferation, and I'm determined that the world must go further. So just a few weeks ago I went to the UN Security Council and put forward a global deal where countries that already have nuclear weapons offer civil nuclear power to those countries prepared to give up their plans to obtain nuclear weapons. In return, countries like ours who already have nuclear weapons will play our part by reducing the global total.
There is more detail about the deal here, and I'm proud that Britain played such a leading role in a campaign that will make all of our children safer.

Creepy
morningpaper: Do you consider yourself to be an unlucky Prime Minister?
GordonBrown: Morningpaper, you ask if I consider myself an unlucky Prime Minister? Not when I'm sitting here at Mumsnet!
“That has to be the cringiest thing I have ever read,” wrote sagan

Take The Biscuit
But there was one question that he steadfastly refused to answer: what’s your favourite biscuit, Prime Minister? The question was put to Mr Brown no fewer than 12 times (which, as it happens, is the exact number of times Jeremy Paxman put his question to Michael Howard in the notorious 1997 Newsnight interview).
Time and again they asked what has become a staple question of Mumsnet interviews. “May I ask you what your favourite biscuits are?” said one mother. “What biscuit, Mr Brown, please, before you leave!” pressed another. Steadfast to the end, Mr Brown refused to answer. One member, MadameDefarge, said: “Maybe he needs to consult with his advisers on what would be the most vote-winning biscuit to admit to liking?”
Afterwards 10 Downing Street still refused to comment, although it is known that he used to snack on up to three Kit Kats a day before his wife got him to cut down. Over the weekend he used Twitter to reveal that he was a fan of any chocolate coated biscuits!


So he didn't answer the questions, just repeated the same old stuff.



Caroline Lucas MEP was interviewed by mumsnet here

Britons Urged To Stop Wasting Water

The UK Government is launching a new campaign urging Britons to stop wasting water and save 20 litres a day. The average UK household uses over 100,000 litres of water a year, the equivalent of 150 litres per person per day - one of the highest usage figures in Europe.

Despite the UK's reputation for frequent rainfall and being surrounded by water, many parts of the country - particularly in the densely populated south east - actually have less water available per head than many European countries, including Italy, Greece and France.

The water-saving campaign recommends turning off the tap whiling cleaning your teeth, reducing shower times by as little as a minute, using a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and watering the garden with a watering can instead of a hosepipe. Many people now collect rainwater to use on their garden.Why not collect your shower water and use it to flush the loo? Or use washing up water to water the garden, for many houses this can be done by redirecting a drain.

The Government have yet to encourage anyone to do anything that I can see. Other countries have toilets that have a low flush/high flush option, I have only seen them here in a few eco houses.
So whose fault is it that only around 13% of households have invested in simple measures like a water-saving toilet cistern; just 3% use aerated water-efficient showerheads.

The Defra initiative, which is part of the Government's Act on CO2 campaign, will be fronted by TV presented Kate Humble.

Some more water saving sites:
actonco2 ecocamel shower head, waterwise , reducereuserecycle, plumb world.

I have blogged before about getting a free , Eaga Showersmart water saving device.

The Rainbow Warrior Comes To London

Come along and take a tour of the ship. Tours will take place:

London - Thames Quay, West India Docks
Sat 21st November 10am – 5pm
Sun 22nd November 10am – 5pm

Edinburgh - Cruise Liner Berth, Ocean Terminal, Leith Docks
Sat 28th November 10am – 5pm
Sun 29th November 10am – 5pm

Last tours start at 4.30pm at both locations.

Please register online and let us know which day you'd like to come along, so we can get an idea of numbers.

The Rainbow Warrior will be visiting us on her way to the climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Rich countries, including the UK, must take action at Copenhagen by committing to higher emissions cuts and putting money on the table both to stop emissions from deforestation and support low-carbon technology.

Here in the UK we need the political will to take action on climate change. Greenpeace has produced a 12-point manifesto detailing the steps that need to be taken for Britain to build a low-carbon economy. The Rainbow Warrior will be helping us to encourage MPs to sign up to the manifesto.

Visit www.greenpeace.org.uk/rainbow to register now.

We need climate finance NOW!

Tomorrow finance ministers of the world’s 20 biggest economies are meeting in Scotland.

To strike a new global climate deal at December's UN Copenhagen Summit, strong financing will be essential -- but there is still no global pledge of funds on the table and this isn’t even on the agenda for Saturday's meeting.

This is an emergency -- the Copenhagen talks could collapse without a funding plan. Let’s flood our finance ministries with messages over the next 36 hours, pressing them to put climate back on the agenda before it’s too late:

Send a message now!

There’s no shortage of bold and practical ideas for how the funds could be raised –for example, levies to close the tax−free loophole on aviation and shipping fuels or a charge on financial speculation could raise tens of billions each.

Last month, we targeted the European Union with ads and campaigns −− and they set a precedent by starting to put money on the table. But Europe must raise their offer, and other rich countries need to join them. $150 billion a year is needed by 2020 to invest in low−carbon development and the green economies of the future. We can do it, but it’ll take a massive surge of political will.

That’s where we come in. As hundreds of thousands of citizens from every one of these countries, let’s challenge our own finance ministers to be real leaders not climate villains −− press them to agree a climate finance package at this link

UK Forcast to miss 2010 carbon-reduction goal

Forecasts of our likely failure to meet carbon reduction targets is putting UK Government credibility on climate change at risk, say independent analysts

We're likely to miss carbon reduction goals for 2010 by a wide margin, according to projections from Cambridge Econometrics.

Co-editor of the report professor Paul Ekins urged greater commitment to targets, saying:

It is imperative for UK credibility in this area that the 2020 targets do not [fail], but this requires strong action soon. The next Government (following the 2010 general election) would need to, urgently set out not only the details of its ambitious carbon-reduction policies, but also move swiftly to their implementation if it is to achieve the statutory goal of a 34 per cent reduction in GHGs by 2020. The achievement of the 2020 target would make it more likely that the UK will be on track for its longer-term target of an 80 er cent reduction in emissions by 2050.'

A spokesperson for the environment ministry rejected the analysis, saying it did not take into account the "ambitious measures" already put into place. He did not explain what "ambitious measures" he had in mind; expanding airports & widening motorways are just a couple of policies for increasing emissions.

Useful links
theecologist
endseurope
carbonadvicegroup
iol

Planning Success For The Bath Road Reservior; For The Moment

What an interesting planning meeting last night at Reading Borough Council. I met campaigners, residents, and fellow Reading West PPCs Alok Sharma(Cons) and Naz Shakar(Lab).

Most of the public were there to support the Bath Rd Reservoir Campaign, where Thames Water are trying to sell of a reservoir and make money. They failed this time,the council approved a dozen reasons to turn down the application. But the Labour Cllrs said they have no intention of preserving the reservoir, they just didn't like this scheme. The campaigners may be forced to keep going, as Thames Water bring more schemes till they get one accepted. I suggested that while the best result would be to keep the reservoir as it is, the second best would be to use the reservoir structure as an underground ecohome, its big enough to contain several flats. This would at least keep the trees and the look of the place, while having some homes that are inspiring eco homes at the highest standards.

Another contentious local planning issue is 22 Alexandra Road, where developers want to turn a house into flats. The neighbours are campaigning against it, and had a protest at the meetings, wearing marked up T shirts. Perhaps they should get a website. Unfortunately this could be just one among many such developments.

While I applaud the people who object to these project, what about the underlying reasons that it happens? The utilities were privatised, so now maximising profits is all important, providing the service to customers comes second.

The other factor is the pressure to build houses; again its the government that is at fault here. Gordon Brown, when Chancellor, commissioned Kate Barker to investigate house price rises. She decided the answer is to build millions of houses; covering the landscape in them. Was there any thought to to the loss of the environment and the strain on resources? She did admit later that her influential review of Britain's housing supply for the Treasury should have acknowledged the environmental impact of increased house building. "I do have one regret about the review. I should have said more clearly that if you do increase the rate of housing, there are issues about energy and water usage and the use of materials."

Friends of the Earth attacked Barker's review, saying it was anti-democratic by suggesting local authority planning committees must increase housing supply. Also the house price rises at the time were largely caused by the demand-side of the housing market, for example concerning loan policies, rather than being a result of constraints on the supply of new houses. Also regional variations in the job market, causing people to leave houses empty in some areas while straining others. There is no plan to manage this imbalance, I have suggested before that the government could move some of its offices from London and the South East. The driving license authorities were moved to Wales some time ago, why not others?

The flawed Barker Review lead to the 2007 planning white paper. FoE say it sets out a series of reforms to make the planning system better for business. Local authorities have Development Plans. Find yours here.

In Reading we are told that for the period 2001-2006 1,350 housing units must be built every year. We have many empty homes and offices in Reading, the homes should be occupied. It may be worth converting some of the empty office blocks to flats rather than continue to build on ever more dodgy sites such as flood plains.

The Regional tier of Government has imposed their own target, which is 611 per year till 2026.

Consequences of the rise in building so many houses are many.

Ever wonder why the roads are constantly being dug up? Every utility has to keep upgrading their services to cope with the increased number of houses, among other reasons. And because they are all privatised they will not coordinate the work, there is no money in it for them so they won't do it.

On the subject of Roads, there are a few reasons why traffic gets worse every year. One of them, you guessed it, is that more people living in an area will mean more people with more cars.

So just opposing individual developments is not enough, with the agenda of ever more housing being thrust on us by the government, to stop one means more built elsewhere.

Peter Tatchell victim of "lies and smears"

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has claimed he is a victim of "lies and smears" after complaining about a chapter in an academic text.

Tatchell was mentioned in 'Out Of Place', which contained a chapter on gender, sexuality and terrorism. He received an apology from Raw Nerve Books over passages which alleged he was racist and Islamophobic.

The chapter, authored by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem, claimed that Tatchell and gay rights organisation OutRage! were "part of the Islamophobia industry" and were involved in "racial politics". It also alleged Tatchell had equated "Muslims as Nazis", and said he had "collaborated with the extreme right" and "participated with several racist and fascist groups."
Rather than attack him, he should be given a peerage for his courage and persistent campaigning. He tried to arrest Mugabe on charges of torture and other human rights abuses. In 2006, New Statesman readers voted him sixth on their list of "Heroes of our time". He was named Campaigner of the Year in The Observer Ethical Awards 2009.

Tatchell, Green Party PPC in Oxford East received an apology from Raw Nerve Books, a non-profit publisher based at the University of York, which accepted the accusations could not be supported.

However, he has now been accused of censorship and that the three academics have been spreading untrue smears about him. In a statement, Tatchell said:

"The real censorship is by my critics. Some of them are posting entirely false allegations, often on closed lists that do not allow me to post my side of the story.

"Many of my detractors now claim that I forced the book to be withdrawn from sale and that I pressured the publishers to declare it out of print. Not so. I have not suppressed the book, Out of Place, or forced it out of print. The book was listed as out of print on the Raw Nerve Books website before I contacted the publishers and challenged the lies and falsehoods written about me. The book was not withdrawn on my account. It had already ceased to be available before I approached the publishers."

He also denied using libel laws, claiming this was "another lie".

A statement from Raw Nerve Books said: "One of the articles – ‘Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the war on terror' by Jin Haritaworn, with Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem – contains inaccuracies. While, like the rest of the book, it addresses important issues, the inaccuracies mean that the debate has been skewed and the issues obscured.

"The publishers apologise for inaccuracies in the article. The book was already out of print when these errors were brought to our attention. Raw Nerve unsuccessfully encouraged the editors of the book (and thereby the authors of the article) to refute or retract the errors.

"Given that factual errors remain in the book, the publishers – with great sadness – have no alternative but to refrain from republishing. The publishers do not wish to participate in silencing or censoring, but do wish to uphold scholarly and honest debate. If the issues of inaccuracy can be resolved, the publishers would be delighted to publish a new edition of the book. "

Academics are supposed to adhere to the highest standards of facts, truth and of evidence-based assertions, with proper footnoting and sourcing for what they write. The authors of the chapter that defames me did not do this. They made claims that are untrue and for which there is no evidence. They provided no footnotes or sources for their outrageous false allegations. They are guilty of poor research, shoddy scholarship and desertion of academic standards.

Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem suggest that I am anti-Muslim. This is pure fiction. I have campaigned against fundamentalist Muslims (in the same way that I have campaigned against fundamentalist Christians), not against Muslim people in general. I have always made this distinction very clear.

The authors explicitly claim or implicitly insinuate the following:

Tatchell has “claimed the role of liberator and expert about Muslim gays and lesbians.” 'Not true. I have never made such a claim or adopted such a role.'

Tatchell is Islamophobic and is “part of the Islamophobia industry.” 'Not true. I have defended many Muslim victims of injustice and condemned anti-Muslim prejudice. Indeed, in 1998 I drafted a law to protect Muslims (and others) against discrimination, harsssment and hate crimes. It was, sadly, rejected by the government.'



The authors of the chapter and the book's editors did not respond to calls for comment by the time of publication. The authors are:
- Dr Jin Haritaworn of the LSE’s Gender Institute

- Tamsila Tauqir of the Safra Project: “a resource project working on issues relating to lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender women who identify as Muslim religiously and/or culturally (Muslim LBT women).”. She was awarded an MBE last year.

Esra Erdem Department of Economics, University of Oxford; Political Economy, Feminist Theory, Migration Studies

Riot In Jerusalem

Israeli forces stormed Jerusalem’s holiest shrine on Sunday, firing stun grenades to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in an eruption of violence at the most critical spot in the Holy Land. A wall of Israeli riot police closed in on the crowd, sending many protesters — overwhelmingly young men — running for cover into the black-domed Al Aqsa mosque. Dozens of protesters remained holed up inside the mosque for several hours, occasionally opening shuttered doors to throw objects at police. The protesters eventually left peacefully and the compound was closed. There were no serious injuries.

Over the weekend, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah issued a joint communique in Cairo accusing Israel of taking unilateral steps in Jerusalem that they said were undermining efforts to resume peace negotiations and could have catastrophic consequences for the entire region. As part of an intensifying struggle over Jerusalem, Arab leaders are critical of construction in the city and alleged violations of the status quo on the Temple Mount.

Frictions in recent weeks have stemmed largely from rumours among Palestinians about Israeli plans to allow Jews to pray at the site or to dig under the compound and harm the Muslim buildings there. Israel has carried out numerous archaeological digs in nearby areas. The site has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, but is administered by a Muslim religious body known as the Waqf. The compound is opened for several hours a day to allow tourists and Jews to visit, though only Muslims are allowed to pray there. Israeli police were quick to prevent the Jewish fringe group that wanted to pray on the mount from entering the compound!

But it seems

Jews are indeed building homes in Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to halt their activities. There is tunneling under the Arab neighborhood of Silwan as archeologists search for remains of the biblical City of David, and Jewish construction in the Arab neighborhoods of Sheik Jarrah and Ras al-Amud. National parks and archeological digs around the Old City's holy basin are supported and undertaken by right-wing Jewish organizations with a clear agenda: to make dividing the city impossible, leaving it all under Israeli jurisdiction and thereby rendering Muslim religious control of the Temple Mount politically irrelevant.

In late August, Sheik Taysir Tamimi, a leading Palestinian cleric, claimed that the Jewish temples never existed, that Jerusalem was never a Jewish city, that Al-Aksa was built by angels and that the Western Wall was a tying post for Muhammad's horse, al-Burak!

Israel retorts that Jewish claims about the temples having been located on the mount are universally accepted by scholars and that the historic and archeological evidence is incontrovertible.

The political subtext for much of the Arab discontent is former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly offered the Palestinians a far-reaching deal on Jerusalem -- Arab neighborhoods would become part of Palestine, there would be a special regime for the Temple Mount until final arrangements were worked out and what is today eastern Jerusalem would become the capital of the Palestinian state -- whereas Netanyahu (Current PM) insists on a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.

The Palestinians seek to make east Jerusalem, including the holy compound, the capital of a future independent state. There are accusations that Israel was tunneling under the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount compound, and that the Israeli government has a master plan to isolate Arab eastern Jerusalem from the West Bank.

The allegations followed weeks of tension that erupted after a Jewish fringe group announced plans to visit and pray at the Temple Mount and a radical Israeli-Arab cleric charged that Al-Aksa was in danger and called upon Muslims to put their bodies on the line to defend it.

USA Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is in the region trying to start peace talks. Has anyone heard from Mr T Blair?

"Jerusalem must be the capital of two States -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, if peace in the Middle East is to be achieved" said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.


The riot took place on the holiest site in the Jewish Religion, the location of the temple that for centuries was the centre of Judaism. Though only the wall remains now, its associated with all the Jewish biblical prophets who are also revered in Christianity and Islam. The site is the location and the third holiest site in Islam. It is regarded as the the location Muhammad ascended to heaven and of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, the oldest extant Islamic structure in the world.

Links
dawn.com
jta
N.Y.Times
china view

Rules

This was in a school, but I think it could be adapted for parliament and local authorities too.

I imagine Gordon Brown feels frightened or sad most of the time; does he tell an adult though?

Nope

I saw this in town, couldn't resist.

If you want to make your own version; and can’t convince artist Shepard Fairey to do a custom portrait for you, just head over to Obamicon.me and create a similar poster using your own photograph and message.

Put your own Photo in Barack Obama’s ‘Hope’ Poster from Digital Inspiration.

Jolly Anglers Pub May Reopen

A CANALSIDE pub which closed its doors earlier this year could be close to reopening.

The Jolly Anglers on Kennet Side in Newtown was suddenly shut down in June by Enterprise Inns, who sold it on the condition it didn't reopen as a pub. But a deal's now been made with the new owners and West Berkshire brewery.

The Jolly Anglers in Kennetside has been the subject of a grass-roots and cross-party campaign after it closed suddenly in June when Enterprise Inns sold it.

But there are signs of a deal which could see the independent West Berkshire Brewery, based at Yattendon, take it on.